Here's a link to "Death to All Humans." I am teaching myself the art of CSS and web design. The page is my first attempt at building something from scratch, and while I'm slowly grasping the assembly process of building a design, the mechanics of the process is still somewhat Greek.

Any help anyone can give me on the code would be greatly appreciated. Even more appreciated would be explanations as to why specific changes should be made... I'm the kind of person who needs to know why; what specifically is accomplished by adding or deleting a specific snippet of code...

Once you go the page you can see the code by using the shortcut CTRL+U. Everything inside the "script" tags is Blogger stuff... not mine.

Thanks, and enjoy the show.

The Issues I'm Having:

1) I can't get what's inside the "p" tags (Inside the "p" brackets in the CSS code), "...and your little dogs too!" to show up in the color white (#ffffff). Nor is the "bold" command working [at least, not in Firefox]. I can get both color and weight to work in the HTML, but not the CSS

2) The phrase "...and your little dogs too!" need to move up closer to the title

3) No matter what I've tried, I can't get the banner image to drop below the blogger bar at top. I want to see "crimson" (#CC0000) between the blogger toolbar and the image

4) As stated above, some help cleaning up the code would be appreciated

UPDATE:April 1st -- I've fixed Issue #2. Still need help on the others.

When I decided to leave the old blog and start the new, the ONLY reason I didn't import all my previous posts to Pearls and Lodestones was because I'd a had to copy and paste each post individually. But now that Blogger has seen fit to streamline that process, allowing us bloggers to merge posts and their respective comments from one blog to another, everything that was at Pocket Full of Mumbles is now here. With one fell swoop the two have become one.

MONTGOMERY – State, federal and local investigators responding to the multiple homicides March 10 in south Alabama are piecing together the sequence of events that resulted in the shooting deaths of 10 victims, the injury of six individuals, and the death of the suspect from a self-inflicted gunshot. Investigators also are working to determine a motive for the deadly attacks.

The gunman has been identified as Michael Kenneth McLendon, 28, of Coffee County.

We believe the attacks began at McLendon’s mother’s residence in Coffee County on County Road 474 in Kinston, where McLendon also lived. The body of a woman was discovered at the residence at approximately 3:30 p.m. when local firefighters responded to witness reports of a fire at that location. The Department of Forensic Sciences is working to confirm the identity, but the victim is believed to be Lisa White McLendon, 52, McLendon’s mother.

McLendon then traveled to Samson in Geneva County, where he shot and killed five individuals on the front porch of his uncle’s residence on West Pullum Street. The victims are identified as:

Andrea D. Myers, 31, mother of the 18-month-old and wife of Deputy Myers

James Alford White, 55, identified as McLendon’s uncle

Tracy Michelle Wise, 34, identified as McLendon’s cousin

Dean James Wise, 15, identified as Ms. Wise’s son and McLendon’s second cousin

Injured at that residence was 4-month-old Ella K. Myers, the daughter of Deputy Myers. Ella was transported by LifeFlight to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. This morning she was listed in stable condition and scheduled for surgery.

McLendon then shot and killed Virginia E. White, 74, identified as McLendon’s grandmother, who was standing in the doorway of her home on Pullum Street, next door to the residence where the first attack occurred.

McLendon then left Pullum Street, traveling north on Wise Street in a red 2003 Mitsubishi. On Wise Street, McLendon shot and killed a pedestrian, James Irvin Starling, 24. McLendon continued north onto Main Street in Samson, where he shot and injured Jeffrey Lynn Nelson, 50.

McLendon then traveled to the Inland Gas Station on Main Street in Samson, where he shot and killed Sonja Smith, 43. Injured at that location was Greg McCullough, 49.

McLendon continued traveling east on Alabama 52, firing rounds into several businesses and vehicles as he drove.

At 4:01 p.m. CDT, an Alabama state trooper notified the Dothan State Trooper Post that he had received a report of a subject shooting at people in Samson, and the trooper proceeded toward Samson on Alabama 52.

McLendon, traveling east on Highway 52 toward Geneva, then shot and killed Bruce Wilson Malloy, 51, who was traveling in a vehicle on 52.

At 4:06 p.m. CDT, the Alabama state trooper encountered McLendon on Alabama 52, and McLendon fired at least seven rounds into the trooper’s vehicle. The trooper, Mike Gillis, was injured slightly by broken glass, and continued the pursuit on McLendon into Geneva.

The Geneva Police Department attempted to stop McLendon using a PIT, or pursuit intervention maneuver, in front of the Wal-Mart in Geneva. McLendon fired several rounds into the officer’s vehicle, injuring him with glass fragments. Geneva Police Chief Frankie Lindsey attempted to block McLendon’s exit from the area, at which time McLendon fired several rounds at the chief. Chief Lindsey was wounded in the shoulder.

McLendon continued on Highway 52, turned onto Maple Avenue in Geneva, and then onto Highway 27 north. He stopped at Reliable Products in Geneva at 4:17 p.m., where he exited his vehicle. McLendon exchanged fire with a Geneva County deputy and a state Conservation officer before entering the Reliable Products building. Within minutes, gunshots were heard, and McLendon was discovered dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

McLendon was employed at Kelley Foods of Alabama. We have identified that in 2003, he was briefly employed as a police officer in Samson, but failed to complete required training at the police academy in Montgomery. He had no known criminal record.

McLendon was armed with two assault rifles, an SKS and a Bushmaster, using high-capacity magazines taped together; a shotgun; and a .38-caliber handgun. At this time we believe that he fired in excess of 200 rounds during the assaults.

The forces of evil have taken the life of another soldier; he is martyred in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why did the gunman storm into the First Baptist Church in Maryville, Illinois? Did he hate Christians so much that he felt the need to kill the senior pastor Fred Winters, and wounding 5 others in his rampage?

Christians still die for their testimony. The killings didn't end with Rome. Consider James 4:4...

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

If friendship with the world is enmity with God, the opposite is likewise true. Friendship with God is enmity with the world. Jesus bore this out in his persecution, arrest, torture, and crucifixion. Before he died for our sins he told his disciples...

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also."

--John 15:20-23

If they hate Jesus, and by extension hate God, they hate his followers too. They hate the Jews, they hate the Christians. They hate truth, they hate the Light... because their deeds are evil [John 3:19].

But hold fast. Stand your ground. That's all God is asking. He has given each of us a patch of earth to defend (wherever his will directs us IS that patch of ground). The war is won but the battles still rage. Satan has lost, and in these last moments his desperation is reflected in the hearts and minds of his children.

Our brother is now home. Perhaps he is witnessing preparations for our Lord's return; for surely that day is soon.

The Lord comfort his servant's family, and bring them through the days ahead stronger in faith, more cognizant of HIS grace, and more committed to His service.